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Tony stood up and turned the equipment off. He had just finished recording what could be his goodbye letter. The last message he wanted to send to his family and loved ones in case he didn’t survive the final battle against Thanos. He was quite aware that was a possibility and he wanted to be prepared, even though he hoped that he would arrive home after some time in a hospital and just delete the video without anyone else having to see it.
Hope is the last to die, they said.
Feeling tired, Tony stretched his body. He was going to take a quick shower and sleep. That might be the last night he would have to cuddle with his wife so he should go to bed, where she was already fast asleep, as soon as possible.
But before he had the time to move, he heard a voice calling him.
“Dad?”
Tony turned his body in the voice’s direction and saw a young woman in front of him. A young woman he had never seen before but it took him only a second to realize that he knew her very well, probably better than anyone else.
It was easy to recognize her. She had Pepper’s nose and mouth, but his own hair and eyes.
“Morgan?”
Morgan nodded but didn’t say a word. Her face looked scared, pained, her eyes showed so many emotions at the same time that it was difficult to read. And truth be told, understanding other people’s feelings wasn’t Tony’s best trait. Still, everything fell into place naturally. It was so easy to figure out that it couldn’t even be called a puzzle. Tony knew why she was there. He just knew.
It seems hope is not gonna be the last one this time, huh.
Tony smiled. He felt sad and happy at the same time, but more than anything else, he felt relieved.
“So we did it, huh? We won.”
Once again, Morgan nodded without uttering a single word. Her bottom lip was trembling and she seemed to be frozen in place. If she moved or said anything, she would break.
Tony knew his daughter well.
He opened his arms.
“It’s been years. Won’t you give your old man a hug?”
That was all she needed to hear to quickly walk in his direction and throw herself in his arms. Morgan hugged Tony as if her life depended on it. She put all the pent up feelings she kept to herself for over 15 years on that hug. And Tony hugged her back just as tightly. It felt only natural.
Sadly, the hug was shorter than both of them wished it was. Morgan was the one to withdraw first, and taking only one step back, she sniffed as tears streamed down her cheeks. And finally, she was able to speak.
“I can’t stay much. Uncle Bruce only gave me 20 minutes,” she said, looking at what seemed to be a timer on her wrist.
“To avoid you trying to do anything stupid, I assume,” Tony smiled again.
“Yeah,” she said, smiling back. “I just wanted to see you.”
“I’m impressed that he even accepted to help you.”
“I gave him no choice. I told him if he didn’t help me I’d find a way to come here myself, so he decided to cooperate because this way I would let him give the terms.”
“That’s my girl,” Tony smirked. “So, how old are you? What have you been doing? Are you in college? Do you have a boyfriend already? Must I go to the future to have a word with him?” Tony said, joking. There were so many more things he wanted to know, but he had so little time to ask.
Morgan chuckled.
“I’m almost 20. I’m studying Physics in college but I study many other things with Uncle Bruce. I have a girlfriend, actually, and she’s great, no need to worry.”
Tony smiled kindly.
“You’re doing fine, then. It’s all that matters to me.”
“Yeah… I thought you’d like to know,” She smiled sheepishly.
“I sure did. I’m very glad,” Tony said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “And you look great. You grew up to be a gorgeous woman just like your mom. I couldn’t be more proud.”
“About mom…” she seemed to hesitate, her smile faltering.
“Yes?”
“She’s married again,” Morgan started, and quickly continued, sounding defensive. “It took many years, and she still loves you, of course—
“Oh, thank God,” Tony said. “For a second I thought you’d say she had died too. I’m relieved to know she’s fine. Is she happy?”
“Yes. Yes, she’s happy. The first years… I was too young and don’t remember much, but I remember it was difficult for both of us. But we… she had a lot of supportive friends. She never stopped loving you but… Life still happens and… I told her that she had the right to find someone else, and you would want her to be happy too… Right?”
“God, yes. I won’t lie and say I’m not jealous, but I’m more relieved than anything. She deserves to be happy. You both do. All I’m doing now is for you and her. I love you both very much, you know that, right?”
“I do,” she nodded, smiling. “We love you too.”
Tony pulled her into another hug, and she let herself be held, lying her head on his chest.
“I miss you,” she said.
“I’m sorry, Maguna,” he said. She smiled when she heard the nickname she hadn’t heard in so long. “If there was another way I would have never left you.”
“I know,” she said, tearing up again. Tony held her tighter and kissed her on top of her head.
They held each other for a couple minutes more before Morgan withdrew again. She looked at the timer and showed him a sad smile.
“The timer’s gonna take me back in less than a minute,” she said. “It was nice to see you, dad. I wish we had more time.”
“Let’s not get greedy,” Tony chuckled. “Tell Bruce I said hi. And I assume you didn’t tell your mom you came here?”
“I didn’t.”
“Well, if you ever tell her—but no pressure—tell her I approve of her new relationship as long as she’s happy.”
“Will do,” she smiled.
The tears were rolling down her cheeks again.
“Bye, dad,” she said. “I love you 3000,” and her body disappeared, as if sucked back to her time.
“I love you 3000 too,” Tony said, tears finally starting to fall down his face despite the smile on his lips.
It took a few minutes for Tony to recompose himself.
But now he knew they would win. He would make sure they would win.
That would be the end of his own journey, but now he knew that Morgan’s was just beginning, and he would save the world for her.